It had been two months since the team had become just that, a team. Rumors and stories had spread throughout the guild of Lucy's magic and people tended to stay away from her, something that she was fine with. Even though she spoke to Natsu, Erza and Gray, she mostly stuck to herself, preferring the solitude to avoid getting too attached. She would talk to others only when spoken to, but since word of her power had gotten out, it wasn't often.

Lucy loved being back in a guild, it made her happy no matter how they treated her. She enjoyed being in Team Natsu and they were slowly becoming her closest friends. They had gone on minor jobs throughout the months to help Lucy pay for her rent. They weren't as big as the beast they had taken down and very rarely did Lucy need to use her magic since the first time. Even Natsu was surprised by how powerful she was.

Lucy was sitting in the guild hall one day, making polite conversation with Mira at the bar, when Natsu threw an arm around her shoulder and she glanced over at him with a friendly smile. "Hey Luce!" Natsu called out louder than needed, making the blonde mage wince and out her hand over her ear.

"Natsu, I'm right here, you don't have to shout." Lucy said with a glare, making Natsu shrink back a bit. "Sorry 'bout that Luce." He replied, rubbing the back of his neck while he grinned sheepishly.

"What is it?" Lucy asked suspiciously, staring at the pink-haired boy as he grinned back at her innocently.

"I found us a job, thewhole team can go on it!" Natsusaid excitedly. Lucy's eyes widened, and she tilted her head as he presented her a job request he had taken off the board.

HELP: FIND AN ESCAPEE FROM PRISON

*REWARD* 300,000 JEWEL

Lucy's eyes scanned over the paper and her nose wrinkled. If the whole team went it would probably only split into 75,000 Jewel each, meaning she could pay for rent but not a lot else. "Are you sure you don't want to take it on your own?" she asked the dragon-slayer. Natsu shook his head quickly.

"We're a team, we work together or not at all!" he said clenching his fists as flames began to flow over them. Lucy blushed at the thought, 'if I had told Sting that he would have nodded and walked away without a second glance.'

Lucy thought about it before smiling at Natsu and nodding, "alright, let's do it!" she said, nodding in agreement. "Yosh!" Natsu threw his flaming fist up into the air and ran off to tell Gray and Erza the plan.

!

It had been three days and finally Team Natsu had arrived at their destination. A town far away from Magnolia, making the journey by train seem even longer than it really was, especially to the motion sick Natsu.

As the team arrived at their clients house they noticed that no one was out in the town. It almost seemed like they were going back to the town of the beast. Lucy shuddered at the thought while Erza knocked on the door of their client's house.

A beautiful young woman with dark brown hair, big green eyes, and a voluptuous chest, opened the door and Lucy noticed that both Gray and Natsu were staring in awe. The woman smiled sweetly and glanced over all of them, her eyes resting on Natsu last. For some reason Lucy's stomach clenched but she shook it off just as quick as it had come and shook her head.

"Hello, you must be the Fairy Tail wizards that agreed to the job. It's a pleasure to meet you all, I'm Sasha," the woman said to the wizards, but in reality, she was only looking at Natsu. Her green eyes seemed to sparkle as she spoke in a soft and feathery voice. The feeling Lucy's stomach came back and she had to clench her fists to ignore it.

Natsu smiled at Sasha with his signature crooked grin and stepped forward, "Yep! That's us! I'm Natsu and these are my pals, Happy, Gray, Erza and Lucy!" Natsu said cheerfully as he pointed to his guildmates. Sasha nodded politely to each of them and turned her focus back onto Natsu.

"Well, nice to meet you all! Come on in and I'll tell you more about the job." She grabbed a hold of Natsu's arm and tugged the boy inside, leaving his guildmates to watch before they too stepped inside the house and look around. The house was no mansion, but it was no small cottage either, and the wizards looked around appreciatively.

To Lucy's dismay, Sasha clung to Natsu's hand and he didn't pull away, instead stared at her happily. "This is a nice place you got here!" Natsu said, looking around with eyes full of wonder and appreciation. Sasha beamed at his words and pressed closer to him. "I'm so glad you like it! It's my families pride and joy, this house."

She led them through the halls and into a large living room, sitting on the couch and pulling Natsu down with her, who chuckled and got comfy. Lucy couldn't help but stare at the two. Sure, she wasn't too close with Natsu, but she also didn't want to see him get hurt, and this girl looked like she would be the type to cause pain.

Gray, Erza and Lucy sat down on the couch across from Natsu and Sasha and Happy flew to sit in Lucy's lap, since Sasha was practically in Natsu's. With a loud huff the cat glared at the pretty girl and forced himself not to claw her eyes out as Lucy absentmindedly stroked his head.

Sasha began telling the group of the escaped convict, a man that went by the name Asher, he was an extremely powerful wizard that practiced shadow magic. Lucy thought of Rogue and a frown erupted on her pretty face, making Gray glance over at her with a confused look. She noticed and quickly composed herself putting on a blank face again as she listened to Sasha speak. He could apparently turn into the shadows himself, which is how he had escaped. Erza asked why the prison themselves weren't contacting the wizards. Sasha smiled and sat up straighter, telling the wizards that her family owned the prison. With a nod the wizards promised to help Sasha and they headed out after getting the rest of the information.

!

Lucy huffed and crossed her arms as she looked around the darkened alley. She knew that high up on the rooftops her guildmates were watching her but still, she didn't like being bait. Sasha had told the group that the prisoner hunted lonely females in alleyways. No one knew where or what happened to them, but they did know they never were seen again.

Lucy hadn't wanted to do it but since she was the only one that could block out her magic, it was the only option, while her friends hovered above her in silence. Natsu had objected to the idea of using Lucy as bait, fearing she would end up hurt, or worse, taken, until Lucy spoke up and agreed with Erza that it seemed like the best plan. He still didn't like it and huffed with his arms crossed while he watched the blonde walk through the alley.

Out of nowhere a strong magical energy formed between the two buildings making the wizards jump to their feet and glance down at Lucy. They were shocked to see that it hadn't been her at all and instead they saw a shadow creeping up slowly behind her.

"Lucy! Watch out!" Natsu shouted as he jumped off the roof. Before he could even land on the ground the shadow enveloped Lucy quickly and they vanished, not even giving Lucy time to scream.

!X!

Alright sorry this took so long to update, I was trying to think of how I wanted this story to go and now I'm excited cuz I have an idea. If you all haven't read my other story, Soul Mark you should go check it out please! :) Anyway I know its not very long but I hope to have another chapter out really soon! Happy Thanksgiving you guys! Also, if you have any requests on a story that I should write next let me know! IT can be from any anime. I'll end up watching it haha :P